The present invention relates to a non-ambulatory patient support and transport system to be used in emergency response mass casualty situations where numerous patients need to receive medical treatment, such as decontamination to remove chemical, radioactive or biological agents in a short period of time. In mass casualty situations where non-ambulatory patients need to be decontaminated or otherwise treated due to a chemical, radioactive or biohazard occurrence, or other mass casualty affliction, a decontamination station is typically set up to treat the patients. In order to decontaminate numerous patients quickly, hazmat response units have few options. Typically, patients are treated by individual medical staff, which is time consuming and taxing on the staff. Individual treatment of patients often creates long delays in decontamination, increasing the duration that patients are exposed to the hazardous or radioactive materials.
In view of the above, it should be appreciated that there is a need for a patient support and transport system that allows for the rapid decontamination or other medical treatment of ambulatory and non-ambulatory patients without requiring a large quantity of medical staff to assist in the decontamination or treatment of patients. The present invention satisfies these and other needs and provides further related advantages.